One common problem for asphalt driveway is depression, there are many videos on YouTube
but many of them don't show you the complete process and they don't show you the proper
way to use cold patch.
See?
My driveway was in very bad shape.
I am going to show you how I fixed mine. This is after the repair and applied the driveway sealer.
Looks good eh?
First, you need to mark the area that you want to fix, make it as a rectangle.
For DIY people, I recommend using the 4.5" angle grinder with diamond blade.
Try to cut the asphalt about 3/4 to 1" deep.
Of course you can rent the gas cutter from the tool rental center but it's overkilled.
I have this Bosch SDS PLUS Rotary hammer drill, Do not use it for this type of work
It's not heavy duty enough.
SDS Plus is only good for drilling.
You can see, it was very slow and it wasted a lot of my time.
My recommendation is to rent the SDS MAX or a demolition hammer from the local tool rental center.
I did not give up at that point, so I bought the SDS Plus "Tile Removal" tool to give it
a try.
But the result is pretty much the same, it was very slow.. don't repeat my mistake.
You may ask, why do we need to do this?
The first reason is that the cold patch needs to be contained so it won't move when your
car is on top of it.
Second reason is that you can make a very smooth transition with the existing asphalt.
This step is very critical.
Go to your local tool rental center to get the plate compactor, it's only $60 CAD for 24 hrs.
DO NOT USE the hand tamper.
Trust me.
Do it in multiple layers with many passes.
After compacting the 2nd layer, we needed to add some cement dust on top.
This helps to speed up the curing of the cold patch, then run the plate compactor for several
passes again.
There is something that I want to share with you all DIY people.
This alumium ramp hardware is amazing, you secure it to the 2x8 and you need 2 of them.
Then you can load and unload the plate compactor by yourself, yes only one person.
It works for the pickup truck, cargo van or suv.
One annoying part for this project is that you need to wait for 30 days.
Parking the car on top during that time is fine but don't turn the wheel when the car
isn't moving.
30 days have passed, now I am using this rubberized product to make the edge smooth
I hope it will turn out to have a good transition between the old and new asphalt.
Okay, It's done.
Remember, don't apply to the main repaired area, I will show you why later.
Now, this looks really ugly and your neighbors will be wondering if your DIY project has failed
This is the reason why I told you not to apply the rubberized product to the main repair area
Finally we can apply the driveway sealer, for me I'd like to paint the edges with the
brush, especially if you have paving stone walkway.
You don't want to spend time cleaning up, it's messy.
Trust me.
Next, we are going to apply the Oil Spot Primer.
The reason is that we added the cement dust 30 days ago, we want it to have a good bonding
with the driveway sealer and also because of the color difference, this can help fixing it
To use the driveway squeegee, the trick is to apply the sealer in one single pass, left
to right.
Then right to left Horizontially.
Do not move the squeegee vertically and do not stop in the middle.
Also, I would like recommend do it very early in the morning, otherwise, the driveway sealer
will dry too quickly under the sun and it will not be smooth.
Personally I don't like using the roller because it doesn't do a good job in filling the small cracks
After applying 2 coats, you can hardly see the depression repair at all.
In my opinion, it looks pretty good and it's a successful DIY repair.
Yes, you can see some minor impefection but overall it is totally acceptable.
Now, my neighbors are asking me how did I do that.
If you think this video is helpful, give it a thumbs-up.
Remember to check out other DIY projects on my channel.
And, if you want to know what other projects that I am working on, remember to subscribe, thanks
for watching.
Bye for now.